Understanding our region using conceptual models

Conceptual models are planning tools that can be used to describe and document our understanding of how systems work. They:

describe the different states that can occur within a system (e.g. good, fair, bad)

identify threats and drivers that can move a system to a worse state

identify the management actions that can move a system to a better state.

Biophysical system conceptual models

There are three conceptual models that broadly focus on the biophysical systems in our region. These describe the ‘health’ of the systems. They should be considered in association with the socially based conceptual models and the subregional information to get a full picture of what we know about our region.

Socially-based conceptual models

People are an integral part of the environment, particularly in the AMLR region, which has a significant population for the geographic area. Most land in the region is in private ownership, so to see improvements in our natural resources we need to work with the people of the region.

These socially based models describe how people interact with managing natural resources: